some is; but exhorting one another; and so much the more as ye see the day approaching." (Heb.iii.13; x.25.) The apostle Peter commands every man who has the gift of preaching, to exercise it, according to his best ability, in explaining divine truth. "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth; that God in all things may be glorified, through Jesus Christ." (1 Peter iv. 10, 11.) The apostle Paul exhorted the "saints and faithful brethren in Christ at Colosse" to "let the word of Christ dwell in them richly, in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another." (Col. iii. 16.) He also exhorted the Corinthians: "Desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy." (1 Cor. xiv. 1.) The Hebrews are severely censured for not making more rapid improvement in christian knowledge, that they might be able to teach others the doctrines of Christ. "For, when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again, which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and have become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat." (Heb. v. 12.)

When the apostle Paul was a prisoner at Rome, he rejoiced that "many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by his bonds, were much more bold to speak the word without fear." And though some of them did not preach from the purest motives, but laboured to make a party in opposition to him; yet he did not charge them with heresy, schism, enthusiasm, and fanaticism, epithets which modern bigots are brawling out against dissenters till their throats are dry; he did not call them unauthorised and unaccredited teachers, intruding into the sacred office; he did not whine out a dolorous lamentation, "The church is in danger;" nor did he forbid their preaching, or so much as suggest a hint that he possessed any such authority. No, he left this mean and contemptible

cant to his pretended successors; his noble soul soared superior to the interests of a party; he saw there was more work to be done than they all could accomplish, and he, therefore, wished success to the labours of the sectaries. His words upon this occasion, deserve to be written in letters of gold: "What then?" says he, "Notwithstanding every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice." (Phil. i. 14—18.)

The practice of confining the work of religious instruction to a distinct order of men, has been more injurious to the interests of christianity than anything else. In the primitive times, when almost every christian understood his religion, and could teach it to others, believers were rapidly multiplied. Every member of the church felt interested in its prosperity, and exerted himself to serve it. Some laboured privately and from house to house, among their relations, friends and acquaintance; if they could give but little instruction, they invited them to the public meetings to be taught the way of the Lord more perfectly; others added to their private labours, a word of consolation, of advice, of reproof, in the assemblies of the faithful; and others of superior acquirements, went out into the streets and lanes of the city, and preached to listening and inquiring multitudes, the unsearchable riches of Christ. Thus, Andrew brought his brother to Jesus. (John i. 40-42.) Cornelius "called together his kinsmen and near friends," to hear the preaching of Peter. (Acts x. 24, 25.) Matthew, the publican, made a great feast, and invited to it our Saviour, and all the publicans among his acquaintance, hoping they would be converted by his conversation. (Luke v. 27—32.) If an unbeliever came into the public assembly at Corinth, the gifted brethren were almost sure to catch him. "He was convinced of all, judged of all, the secrets of his heart were made manifest," and he lost all power of resistance; "and so, falling down on his face, he worshipped God, and reported that God was among them of a truth." (1 Cor. xiv. 24, 25.) And

in the synagogues, the temples, and other places of public resort, the rustic eloquence of untutored plebeians converted thousands to the faith of Christ.

One man is now deemed sufficient to take the spiritual charge of a whole parish, which in some instances contains ten or twenty thousand inhabitants; and all the religious instruction which he gives, is read over once a week, in about fifteen minutes, to perhaps two hundred of his parishioners! Who can wonder that so little good is done? The Methodists act upon the primitive plan, and call all the talent among them into exercise; some pray in public, others exhort, others preach in villages, and the best qualified occupy the pulpits in the large towns and cities; they have a rich variety of means and ministers; multitudes are turned from the error of their ways, and the faithful are perfected in virtue.

Our lord and his apostles made the laity the guardians of orthodoxy. ،، Take heed that no man deceive you; for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they be of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Prove all things: hold fast that which is good. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed." (Matt. xxiv. 4, 5; 1John iv. 1; 1 Thes. v. 21; 2 John 10.)

The clergy, however, soon robbed the people of this privilege. They claimed the exclusive prerogative of judging what doctrines were true, and what were false; they met together in synods and councils, to frame articles of faith, and rites, and ceremonies of worship ; and they required the people, on pain of eternal damnation, implicitly to receive their dogmas. There was no occasion now for the laity to read the Scriptures ; they were deprived of the right of private judgment, and were directed to look for their creed, not in the New Testament, but in the decrees of councils. To finish the business, the priests railed at the Bible as

an obscure book, which the laity could not understand, and, therefore, to avoid heresy, ought not to read. It was, consequently, taken away: the creed-makers had rendered it useless, and the clergy represented it as dangerous.

The way was thus prepared for the introduction of any thing and every thing which could promote the interest of the priesthood. It was no longer necessary to prove a single article of religion by either reason or scripture; dreams and visions, new revelations and miracles, supplied the place of both. The impure

were seen burning in the flames of purgatory, and were heard to cry most piteously for a few more masses to help them out;-rusty nails and rotten wood, though corruptible themselves, could cure diseases and raise the dead, which made them of immense value ; images would weep and bleed, if not honoured with the offerings and devotions of the multitude;-and the priests wore at their girdles the golden keys of St. Peter, with which they could shut and open, at pleasure, the kingdom of heaven. The event has shown the wisdom of the founders of our religion in giving the people the right to judge, and the power to act, in religious matters; and has demonstrated their folly and wickedness, in resigning their privileges, and betraying their trust, into the hands of crafty and designing men.

The laity have no other interest in religion than the salvation of their souls, and therefore can be under no temptation to corrupt it. But the clergy have too often aimed at pomp, wealth, and power; and, as christianity is opposed to these, they have laboured to keep the people in ignorance, the more easily to secure their object; and this ignorance is pleaded as the reason why a distinct order of men should be supported to perform the services of the sanctuary, and dictate the opinions of the worshippers; like a physician who has injured the constitutions of his patients, and thereby rendered himself necessary to them as long as they live. Had they understood something of the

healing art, he would not have dared to give them pernicious drugs; their knowledge would have secured his honesty, and they might have profited by his prescriptions. A rogue will practise his impositions upon the ignorant; but he will be honest with the wise, through fear of detection.

If the ministry were open to all who choose to enter into it, Christendom would soon be blessed with pastors distinguished for piety, zeal, and learning; but till then the bulk of them must, from the nature of things, be ignorant, idle, and wicked. The clergy pretend to be a distinct order of men from the laity, possessed of a divine right and independent power to do what they please in the church. Acting upon these principles, they have assumed the exclusive privilege of making clergymen ; they have persuaded the state to deny the people the right of choosing them, and to compel the people to support them. Now, suppose such a system acted upon by any other craft than priestcraft, what would be the consequence? Suppose the tailors, for instance: these nimble-fingered gentlemen form themselves into a corporate body, and no one is allowed to make a pair of new breeches, or stop a hole in a pair of old ones, who has not served an apprenticeship to the trade, and been duly initiated into the order, by a master tailor, with the ceremony of putting a thimble upon his finger, and a goose into his hand. Every parish is provided with one of these state tailors, and obliged to support him in a genteel style, to keep up the credit and respectability of the order. Who is so blind as not to see that, upon this plan, we should be in danger of appearing in the streets in a birth-day suit? There is no competition. The livelihood of the man does not depend upon the quality or quantity of his work, or upon the good opinion of his employers. According to this scheme, we might have a corporation of gentlemen tailors, but we should have a nation in a state of nudity, or only clothed in rags.

* Is this opinion supported by facts?-EDIT.